Everyday millions of people are exposed to electromagnetic radiation. There are different sources of radiation that can produce harmful effects for humans. The higher the frequency of the radiation the more damage it is likely to cause to a human. Microwaves are an exemplary source of radiation that is known to cause damage to human cells. A very common type of radiation that most humans are exposed to is electromagnetic radiation. Sources of electromagnetic radiation are commonly utilized devices such as but not limited to cell phones and wireless routers. This type of radiation emitted by electronics is non-ionizing radiation, which does not have the ability to break chemical bonds as some of the other stronger types of radiation can do. Electromagnetic radiation does however interact with our body, which can potentially lead to indirect damage following longer term exposure.
The proliferation of electronic devices in the world has placed great concern on the ability to shield electromagnetic interference. Given the unknown long term exposure effects, humans could potentially be vulnerable to the consistent exposure to radiation. Electromagnetic shielding has become a more prominent concern but few options are available for the everyday consumer to protect themselves from radiation exposure. As is known in the art, attenuation is a principal indicator for measuring the effectiveness of electromagnetic interference shielding. It refers to the difference between an electromagnetic signal's intensity before shielding and its intensity after shielding. Attenuation is measured in decibels (dB) that correspond to the ratio between field strength with and without the presence of a protective medium. The decrease in a signal's intensity, or amplitude, is usually exponential with distance, while the decibel range falls along a logarithmic scale. By way of example but not limitation, an attenuation rating of 50 dB indicates a shielding strength ten times that of 40 dB. Existing clothing has been shown to be incapable of blocking radiation at a level of 50 dB. Further, attempts to manufacture garments from radiation blocking cloth have not yielded a fabric composition that provides both effective radiation blocking and comfort to the wearer.
Accordingly, there is a need for a cloth having a composition that is operable to block radiation up to a level of 50 dB wherein the cloth is utilized to manufacture clothing such as but not limited to undergarments.